Gaming system and method for increasing the likelihood of obtaining a designated outcome for a play of a game

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a gaming system and method for increasing the likelihood of obtaining a designated outcome for a play of a game. In certain embodiments, when a triggering event occurs in association with a play of a game, the gaming system increases the likelihood of obtaining a designated outcome for that play of the game. In other embodiments, when a triggering event occurs in association with a play of a game, the gaming system increases the likelihood of obtaining a designated outcome for another play of the game, such as the next play of the game.

The invention is claimed as follows: 
     
         1 . A gaming system comprising:
 a housing comprising an access door;   a security monitoring circuit supported by the housing and configured to monitor the access door;   a power distribution component supported by the housing;   a plurality of output devices comprising a display device supported by the housing, a player tracking display supported by the housing, and a speaker supported by the housing;   a sound card supported by the housing and operable with the speaker;   a processor;   a plurality of input devices comprising a touch screen input device supported by the housing and operable with the display device, a wagering input device supported by the housing, and a cashout input device supported by the housing;   an acceptor configured to receive a physical item associated with a monetary value; and   a memory device that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 establish a credit balance responsive to receipt, by the acceptor, of the physical item; 
 place a wager on a first play of a game responsive to receipt of a wager input by the wagering input device and cause the credit balance to decrease based on the wager; 
 for the first play of the game, randomly select elements from a first set of elements comprising a predetermined first quantity of a plurality of elements; 
 cause a display, by the display device, of the randomly selected elements; 
 determine an award, based at least in part on the wager, associated with the randomly selected elements; 
 cause a display, by the display device, of the award associated with the randomly selected elements; 
 cause the credit balance to increase based on the award associated with the randomly selected elements; 
 responsive to an occurrence of a triggering event in association with the first play of the game, award a free play of the game and use a second set of elements comprising a predetermined second quantity of a plurality of elements for the free play of the game, the triggering event causing a modification of the second set of elements to include more elements in the second quantity of elements of the second set of elements than the first quantity of elements of the first set of elements such that a probability of obtaining a designated symbol combination of the elements via the modified second set of elements in the free play of the game is greater than a probability of obtaining the designated symbol combination via the first set of elements, wherein the probability of obtaining the designated symbol combination in the first play of the game is zero; and 
 initiate a payout responsive to receipt of a cashout input by the cashout input device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the second set of elements includes multiple identical elements. 
     
     
         3 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the triggering event in association with the first play of the game results in an award of a plurality of free plays of the game. 
     
     
         4 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the elements are playing cards. 
     
     
         5 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 responsive to the occurrence of the first triggering event in association with the first play of the game, use the second set of elements for the free play of the game; and   responsive to an occurrence of a second triggering event different from the first triggering event in association with the first play of the game, use a third set of elements comprising a third predetermined quantity of a plurality of elements for the free play of the game, wherein a probability of obtaining the designated symbol combination via the third set of elements in the free play of the game is greater than the probability of obtaining the designated symbol combination via the first set of elements in the first play of the game.   
     
     
         6 . The gaming system of  claim 5 , wherein the probability of obtaining the designated symbol combination via the third set of elements in the free play of the game is greater than the probability of obtaining the designated symbol combination via the second set of elements in the free play of the game. 
     
     
         7 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the second set of elements includes an element having multiple different potential values. 
     
     
         8 . The gaming system of  claim 7 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to enable, via an input device, a player to choose the value of the element from the multiple different potential values. 
     
     
         9 . The gaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the first triggering event occurs when the randomly selected elements for the first play of the game comprises a first triggering outcome. 
     
     
         10 . A gaming system comprising:
 a housing comprising an access door;   a security monitoring circuit supported by the housing and configured to monitor the access door;   a power distribution component supported by the housing;   a plurality of output devices comprising a display device supported by the housing, a player tracking display supported by the housing, and a speaker supported by the housing;   a sound card supported by the housing and operable with the speaker;   a processor;   a plurality of input devices comprising a touch screen input device supported by the housing and operable with the display device, a wagering input device supported by the housing, and a cashout input device supported by the housing;   an acceptor configured to receive a physical item associated with a monetary value; and   a memory device that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 establish a credit balance responsive to receipt, by the acceptor, of the physical item; 
 place a wager on a first play of a game responsive to receipt of a wager input by the wagering input device and cause the credit balance to decrease based on the wager; 
 randomly select, via the processor, a subset of elements from a set of elements for the first play of the game; 
 cause a display, via the display device, of the subset of elements; 
 for each element from the subset of elements, designate the element as either a held element or a discarded element; 
 remove each of the discarded elements from the subset of elements; 
 increase a probability of replacing at least one of the discarded elements with at least one element from the set of elements that complements the subset of elements, wherein the increase of the probability of replacing at least one of the discarded elements with at least one of the elements from the set of elements that complements the subset of elements comprises modifying the set of elements to exclude the discarded elements and include at least one duplicate of at least one of the held elements in the subset of elements; 
 randomly select, via the processor, elements from the modified set of elements to replace each of the discarded elements in the subset of elements; 
 determine, via the processor, an award for the first play of the game based on the subset of elements; 
 cause a display, via the display device, of the determined award for the first play of the game; and 
 prior to a second play of the game, restore the set of elements to its original state prior to the first play of the game. 
   
     
     
         11 . The gaming system of  claim 10 , wherein the increase of the probability of replacing at least one of the discarded elements with at least one of the elements from the set of elements that complements the subset of elements is based on the subset of elements comprising two elements having a same value. 
     
     
         12 . The gaming system of  claim 10 , wherein the increase of the probability of replacing at least one of the discarded elements with at least one element from the set of elements that complements the subset of elements is based on the subset of elements comprising two elements belonging to a same category. 
     
     
         13 . The gaming system of  claim 10 , wherein the increases to the probability of replacing at least one of the discarded elements with at least one element from the set of elements that complements the subset of elements is based on a triggering event in association with the first play of the game that awards a plurality of free plays of the game. 
     
     
         14 . The gaming system of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to designate a combination of elements as a winning combination of elements, wherein said winning combination of elements is only achievable by replacing a first discarded element from the subset of elements with a duplicate of a first held element from the modified set of elements. 
     
     
         15 . The gaming system of  claim 10 , wherein the elements are playing cards. 
     
     
         16 . The gaming system of  claim 10 , wherein a first element has multiple potential values that can affect the determined award. 
     
     
         17 . The gaming system of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to determine a value of the first element from the multiple potential values based, at least in part, on one of a received input and a value for the first element that would result in the award being greater. 
     
     
         18 . The gaming system of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to cause a triggering event to occur when the subset of elements for the first play of the game comprises a triggering outcome. 
     
     
         19 . The gaming system of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, responsive to determining that all of the elements of the subset of elements are held elements, designate the subset of elements as a final subset of elements. 
     
     
         20 . A gaming system comprising:
 a housing comprising an access door;   a security monitoring circuit supported by the housing and configured to monitor the access door;   a power distribution component supported by the housing;   a plurality of output devices comprising a display device supported by the housing, a player tracking display supported by the housing, and a speaker supported by the housing;   a sound card supported by the housing and operable with the speaker;   a processor;   a plurality of input devices comprising a touch screen input device supported by the housing and operable with the display device, a wagering input device supported by the housing, and a cashout input device supported by the housing;   an acceptor configured to receive a physical item associated with a monetary value; and   a memory device that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 establish a credit balance responsive to receipt, by the acceptor, of the physical item; 
 place a wager on a first play of a game responsive to receipt of a wager input by the wagering input device and cause the credit balance to decrease based on the wager; 
 randomly select, via the processor, a subset of elements from a set of elements for the first play of the game; 
 cause a display, via the display device, of the subset of elements; 
 for each element from the subset of elements, designate the element as either a held element or a discarded element; 
 remove each of the discarded elements from the subset of elements; 
 increase a probability of replacing each of the discarded elements with one element from the set of elements that complements the subset of elements, wherein the increase of the probability of replacing each of the discarded elements with one of the elements from the set of elements that complements the subset of elements comprises modifying the set of elements to exclude the discarded elements and include duplicates of the held elements in the subset of elements; 
 randomly select, via the processor, elements from the modified set of elements to replace each of the discarded elements in the subset of elements; 
 determine, via the processor, an award for the first play of the game based on the subset of elements; 
 cause a display, via the display device, of the determined award for the first play of the game; and 
 prior to a second play of the game, restore the set of elements to its original state prior to the first play of the game.